'It’s a lively, rambunctious read, chock full of melodrama, double dealing and knock out blows' [GETTY]

It is impossible to resist describing poet Anna Freeman’s cracking debut in purely sporting metaphors. Set in Bristol in 1799, in the backstreets, bawdy houses and more well-to-do homes of the city, boxing is at the heart of a novel, that, ahem, really packs a punch.

Freeman happened across the initial idea for the story while lazing around in her PJs, perusing a book that she bought to give to her niece, Horrible Histories by Terry Deary.

She was intrigued by a paragraph describing 18th century female prize fighters: “It just seemed so odd – and brilliant – that women were boxing on stage at the same time that other ladies were fanning themselves and embroidering.” She makes good use of these differing destinies in the lives of two of her main characters, Ruth and Charlotte.

Ruth is brought up in a brothel, has a mean-hearted harridan for a mother, a pretty sister and a face which is never going to make her fortune: “My jaw was too large, my eyes too small… I’d teeth to spare, crowding my chops… too bashful to line up straight.”

What she lacks in looks, she makes up for in bravado and “bottom”, a term coined to describe “a boxer who would never surrender, even when they seemed to be beaten”. And Ruth is never going to go down without a fight, even when hunger, doubt, loss and failure have her in their sights.

Instead, she uses her fists and her fortitude to survive, as a boxer and a lover.

Freeman happened across the initial idea while perusing Horrible Histories by Terry Deary

Charlotte, by contrast, appears to have given in and given up. Scarred by smallpox, she is cowed by her lot in life. She is the unlovely sister of a drunken sot of a brother, Perry, who inherits the family home and fortune while her expectations are the embroidery hoop and a life of quiet, refined boredom.

However, underneath her demure surface, she is seething with rage and unexpected gumption and following an unexpected encounter with Ruth and her beau Tom, the world of boxing opens up a new, exciting perspective on how to live a life.

All three find their lives entwined with that of Mr Granville Dryer, the dark heart of the novel; a “cold-hearted piss-licker” who sets up boxing matches and treats every person he comes across “like a horse dealer checking a nag” with blood-spattered consequences for pretty much everyone concerned.

It’s a lively, rambunctious read, chock full of melodrama, double dealing, knock out blows, feints and a slangy earthy language of cullies, pugs and bullies.

It captures Bristol street life brilliantly and niftily sets the scene for a memorable set of characters who are prepared to gamble everything to gain hope and some form of happiness, even in the most challenging of circumstances.

The Fair Fight by Anna Freeman (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, £12) is available at expressbookshop.com